The Twelve Days of Stars and Strays
by crazy alligator
Summary: RenRuki Christmas fic.  Oneshot.  12 vignettes of Renji and Rukia going through their first Christmas together.  Fiction assumes they are romantically involved.  Rated T for some minor swearing.


MERRY CHRISTMAS! Here is my promised RenRuki Christmas fic(assumes they are together already), hope you enjoy!

The Twelve Days of Stars and Strays

1

The first day was when they decided to celebrate it.

"Christmas, eh?" asked Renji. "Sounds weird to me."

"Yeah," replied Rukia from the kitchen, as she poured the fine grains of hot chocolate powder into steaming cups of water that were near-boiling. "Ichigo told me about it. It's a human holiday." Renji could hear the clink of metal against ceramic as his beloved stirred the powder into the water with a spoon.

"And we would want to celebrate it...why?" he inquired, raising a tattooed eyebrow in confusion. He was rewarded with an exasperated sigh from the woman whose image was still blocked from his sight due to the eggshell white walls of the room she was presently preparing hot chocolate in.

"It'll be fun, Renji," she began, emerging from the kitchen with two piping hot mugs in hand. "Trying new things is always fun."

"How's it fun when no one else is going to celebrate it?" he pointed out, as she took a seat beside him, handing him his own cup of the chocolatey winter beverage.

"Well..." she said, blowing on her own a bit to cool it, "It can be something just for us. A little secret that only we know about...you can make it fun by challenging yourself to keep it just between us, instead of blabbing about it to everyone...it can be like a game." Renji thought this over a minute before nodding his agreement.

After all, Rukia did want to try it, and he was always up for a challenge.

2

The second day was when they were educated about it.

"So...you're telling us that a fat guy that lives in the North Pole has magical elves make presents for every good little child in the whole world all year long, and then dresses in a bright red suit to go deliver them to said children all in one night on a sleigh that travels by flying reindeer?" asked Rukia, quirking an eyebrow at her auburn-haired companion. Renji, on her left, was in much the same state.

"Well, he doesn't _really _exist," corrected Orihime. "He's just a legend that goes along with the holiday." She rummaged through her cluttered closet a moment, before bringing out an old-looking book that appeared as if it was on the verge of falling apart. Flipping through the pages, she finally came to one which she stopped on, and turned the book to show them, her index finger pointed towards what she wished for them to look at.

It was a large man in a red suit. He had white hair and a white beard, and also wore a red hat. All of his clothes had white trimming, and he had black boots and mittens. His face was jolly and happy, and he had bright rosy cheeks.

"And this is...Santa?" asked Renji. Neither shinigami was sure how, even in legend, such a large man could ever fit down a chimney.

3

The third day was when they tried decorating.

"The hell are you doin'?" asked Renji as he came out from their bedroom one morning, to find her standing on a step-stool, attempting to hang a god-knows-how-long string of multicolored bulbs from the ceiling.

"Christmas decorations," she answered simply, standing on her tiptoes on the stool so that she could reach up to the ceiling. "They're lights that I got from Inoue." Renji noticed that the stool she was using was rather wobbly, so he went over to her and grabbed her at the waist from behind, hefting her up quickly up onto his broad shoulders.

"Waah!" she yelled in surprise, but after the initial shock of him picking her up so fast and suddenly had faded, Rukia realized that this was a much better way to do it, as she was actually taller, and didn't have to stretch up so far on her tiptoes.

"Thanks," she said, looking down at his head which one of her hands was resting on for balance. Renji didn't want to throw her off, so he kept his head forward as he replied,

"No prob." And so they went all around the room, Rukia pinning one small part of the lights up, before letting a fairly long trail of it dip down , and then pinning another small part up again, making a pattern of downward curves. She was so high up on Renji's shoulders that her head almost banged right into the ceiling.

Finally finishing, Rukia jumped down from her partners shoulders, and landed on the ground firmly.

"We're finally done," she spoke triumphantly. "Now we've just gotta plug them in."

"Uh, Rukia," interrupted Renji, immediately finding a huge flaw with her rationale.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"There aren't any power outlets in Soul Society."

4

The fourth day was when they got a tree.

"Renji, put your winter stuff on!" called Rukia from their bedroom, as she was dawning her own coat and mittens.

"Why?" he asked, also slightly yelling due to their different positions in their home.

"Just do it!" she snapped, and he could hear the sound of her opening up their closet, most likely to look for some long-forgotten item that they needed for this new Christmas misadventure. Renji dressed quickly, not wanting to frustrate her more, but a vein pulsed in his head when he was all ready and good to go, while she was still locked up in their room, looking for god-knows-what.

"Hurry up, would ya!" he called, his impatience growing due to her slowness.

"Hold on, I've almost...there it is!" she exclaimed. A couple seconds later, he saw her raven head pop out from the side of the door, before the rest of her body followed, and she approached him quickly. She carried with her an ax...?

"Uh..." Renji didn't have to finish, as Rukia had already predicted earlier that he was going to wonder about the ax.

"It's for cutting down a tree so we can put it in our house," she answered, making her way towards the door and pulling him along with her.

"Oh, alright the-wait what!"

5

The fifth day was when they learned how dreadfully uncomfortable Christmas clothing is.

Renji scratched furiously at his wool-covered arms, before looking over to Rukia, who was also obviously uncomfortable wearing her own holiday sweater.

"Do we have to wear these things?" whined Renji, as he continued to scratch. The little furs of wool were tickling his skin, irritating everywhere the sweater was and making him itchy all over.

"Ishida was nice enough to knit these for us, we're wearing them," said Rukia, laying down the law firmly.

_Though I do have to admit_, she thought as she pulled at the suffocating turtleneck of the garment, _that these things are pretty damn itchy..._

6

The sixth day was when they figured out that wrapping presents can be a real time-taker.

They had gotten Byakuya a seaweed ambassador pillow. That's right, a pillow.

Even though the noble wasn't celebrating the holiday, Rukia still insisted on buying him a gift.

But there was one small problem. They had no idea how to wrap it. They were equipped with all the right tools-a brand new roll of wrapping paper, a pair of scissors, and some clear tape...but they just didn't know how the in the hell they were going to go about the actual "wrapping" part.

"Should we...put it in a box?" asked Renji, trying to think up suggestions.

"I told you already, I looked everywhere, and I can't find a box that's the right size," she replied, frustrated that this was eating up so much time.

"Then just wrap it as is," he said.

"No, because then he'll be able to tell what it is by the shape!" exclaimed Rukia. They both stared at the gift, eyebrows furrowed, trying to figure out how to solve their dilemma.

7

The seventh day was when Renji lost the game.

"Of all the people...of all the people you could've told...you told Rangiku?" asked Rukia. Renji was extremely afraid, frozen in fear that something very bad was about to happen to the part of him that was needed for reproduction.

"Y...Yeah," he squeaked, trying to act as guilty as possible in hopes that she would show mercy.

"The one person who tells _everyone _in the sierietei _everything _she hears?" Rukia's arms were crossed over her chest like she was a mother scolding her child.

"Yeah." He had to keep himself from trembling, he was so scared.

"And now she's having a Christmas party that everyone in Soul Society that most everyone is going to attend?" Renji could swear that a visible black aura began to surround her.

"Yeah." The male shinigami felt on the verge of wetting himself as the conversation continued.

"Well, that's probably for the better then,"said Rukia calmly. Renji was dumfounded, shocked that Rukia wasn't kicking him in the face.

"Huh?" Rukia shot him a saucy smile.

"It just means that no one is going to disturb us on Christmas eve."

8

The eighth day was when they found out how warm the fire could be on a cold night.

Rukia shivered, then smiled up at Renji gratefully when he draped a fleece blanket over her body.

"Come on," he said, returning her facial expression. "I started a fire in the other room." Rukia stood up, keeping the blanket tucked securely into her sides, as they went to where the fireplace was.

And sure enough, right there in front of them was a calm fire, burning away at logs of wood and creating tiny sounds of pops and sizzles.

Before Rukia knew it, Renji had picked her up bridal style and was sitting before the fire, Rukia still laying across his lap comfortably. She could feel the warmth of the flames soaking into her skin, but was even more grateful for the other warm mass that was cuddled up against her, cuddling her lovingly to his body.

9

The ninth day was when they hung the stockings.

"Hand me those nails," Rukia requested of him, and he obliged, handing her a sharp iron nail which she carefully put between her teeth. She then raised up the bright red stocking to the place she wanted it to be above the fireplace, making sure to hold it firmly by the small loop that it hung by.

Taking the nail from her mouth, Rukia placed it inside the loop, then held out her hand for the hammer. Renji gave it to her, and she grasped the wooden handle firmly, before putting the flats of the hammer and the nail together, lining up her shot, and pounding the nail in.

Surprisingly, it went far enough into the wood that Rukia didn't have to hammer on it anymore, and the petite shinigami smiled in satisfaction. Renji, on the other hand, internally sighed. This was another human tradition that he just didn't get.

10

The tenth day was when they tried making cookies for this "Santa Claus."

"But Inoue said he was just a legend," complained Renji. "The hell do we have to make cookies for him?"

"Because," explained Rukia, "It's tradition. Seriously, Renji, do we have to have the same conversation every time?" She continued to mix the ingredients together in the bowl as she added,

"Now stop bitching and just get the damn cookie cutters." Renji grumbled a bit before following her order, opening up the pantry to retrieve the metal sheets that were bent into holiday shapes.

Stupid traditions.

11

The eleventh day was when they exchanged gifts.

"Close your eyes," ordered Rukia, as she held his present behind her back excitedly. He did so, and then she lifted his hand, placing a small object in the center of his palm.

"Now open." His eyes slid open, to see that she had given him a charm. It was of a dog-a shaggy looking one at that-which was sleeping, and in its paws it held a shining star.

"It's a good luck charm," explained Rukia. "You can carry it around in your shihakusho." Renji smiled warmly at her gift, slipping it inside his shirt as he then told her to close her own eyes. She obliged, and Renji reached into his pocket to retrieve her gift.

Rukia held out her hands for her present, and felt something fuzzy drop in her hands. Her eyes opened to see what it was, and then went wide with delight when she saw that it was a small, floppy-eared rabbit plushie that held a tiny red heart.

"Aww, it so cute!" squealed Rukia, hugging Renji around the neck. He returned it. There were few things that made Rukia this excited, but rabbits were one of them.

12

The twelfth day was when they discovered the mistletoe.

"Yo, Rukia, I'm...home...now," said Renji, entering through the front door of their home late at night on Christmas Eve, but trailing off in his words as the first thing he was met with was Rukia, clad in her long, almost transparent nightgown that he loved so much.

There was no light in the house except for the dim glow of the fire in the fireplace that Rukia was standing next to. Some mistletoe hung above her head, and she stood there, smiling warmly at him. Renji could barely think as he gazed at her, able to see the curves and contours of her body through the garment she was wearing. Rukia chuckled, observing his flustered state, and signaled for him to come closer.

"Are you going to come kiss me under the mistletoe or am I going to have to go change because you can't get your legs to work?" she asked teasingly, knowing that he would never actually give an opportunity like this up.

Before either knew it, he was before her, lifting her to his level and bracing a hand at the back of her head before crushing their lips together. Rukia happily obliged, her arms coming up to snake around his neck as the kiss deepened.

The mistletoe was one Christmas tradition that Renji definitely wasn't complaining about.

END

I enjoyed writing this...though I did procrastinate, I wrote the first and half of the second day last night, and the rest today hehe. Tite Kubo owns Bleach, not I, and I love and appreciate all opinions!


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